Ly Chieu Hoang

Who was Ly Chieu Hoang?

Lý Chiêu Hoàng was the eighth and last sovereign of the Lý Dynasty from 1224 to 1225 and the only empress regnant in the history of Vietnam. Chosen by the Emperor Lý Huệ Tông as his successor at the age of only six, Lý Chiêu Hoàng ruled the country under the total influence of Trần Thủ Độ and the Trần clan in the royal court. It was Trần Thủ Độ who arranged the marriage between the 6-year old empress regnant and his 7-year-old nephew Trần Cảnh and ultimately indeed did overthrow the Lý Dynasty to found the Trần Dynasty in 1225. After the coronation of Trần Cảnh, now Trần Thái Tông, Lý Chiêu Hoàng was downgraded to Empress Chiêu Thánh and finally to Princess Chiêu Thánh when she was forced by Trần Thủ Độ to give up the position of empress consort to her elder sister Princess Thuận Thiên. Afterwards, she was married one more time to general Lê Phụ Trần, with whom she had two children. Lý Chiêu Hoàng's complicated and tragic life was a fine example of the turbulent time of the Late Lý and Early Trần Dynasty in history of Vietnam.